Chapter Eleven
Stepping onto the muddy shore, I followed Peter, Tiger Lily, and the green-skinned pirate (who was apparently named Wes and not at all a pirate) toward the people waiting for us. Like Tiger Lily and the tall man in the headdress, they were dressed in brown-and-yellow tunics, with vibrant splashes of color either in their headbands, belts, or sewn onto their sleeves. Behind them, I could see a large village of teepees and clay buildings, with a fire burning in the middle of it. As cold as I was, the village and the potential for warmth looked like heaven.
“Tiger Lily, take her to our house,” the tall man said. “Get her new clothes, and then let’s meet in the village center. We must progress quickly, and make a decision on our next move tonight.”
“Okay, Father,” Tiger Lily said. “We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” She took me by my hand. “C’mon, Emily. You can wear some of my clothes. Hopefully they’ll fit.” She smiled. “Though they may not be as fancy as your New York clothes.”
A short while later, I stood behind a curtain in Tiger Lily’s room. There were many tee-pees throughout the village of the Natives—which again made me wonder if they were somehow Native American—but there were also several large, two-floored, tan buildings, made out of clay. Tiger Lily’s home was one of these structures, and even though her father and mother were apparently the Chief and Chieftess of the village, their home was no more grand or extravagant than any of the others. All of the houses, including Tiger Lily’s, were lit by candle-light.
“I think these will be the best fit,” Tiger Lily said, sticking her hand through the curtain and holding a brown tunic. “We’re probably around the same size, though you might be a little taller.”
“Thank you. Believe me, as long as it’s dry and warm, that’s all I care about. It could be a tuxedo and I’d still wear it.”
Tiger Lily chuckled. “I’m not sure what a tuxedo is, but I understand. You can leave your wet clothes here in my room and I’ll be sure they get dry before you leave.”
“Thanks so much,” I said, taking off my wet shirt. I hung it on a string in front of a fireplace. “Though as long as I get out of here alive, I’ll be happy. The clothes I can leave behind.”
“I’m guessing this all must be very frightening to you?”
“Yes. That doesn’t even begin to explain it.” I warmed myself in front of the fire. “I can’t wait for it all to be over, to be honest, so I can go home and forget all about it.”
Tiger Lily was silent.
“You’re going to be going home soon, then?”
“Yes.” I thought it over. What exactly had Peter said about taking me home? “Peter wants me to help him against that Hook person. Though I’m not sure what he expects me to do. He needs to be a little more selective in who he thinks can fight off pirates.”
“Hmm,” Tiger Lily replied. “You’ll be going home right away, then? After this is done?”
“Of course,” I replied. “I’ve already been through enough. I need to get back to my brother and get out of here.”
“We’re so happy you came here, though, truly. Your help would make a big difference. But I understand completely if this is all too much for you.”
I took off my shoes. “Wait—you want me to help, too?”
“Yes. I mean, I know it’s a lot to ask.” Tiger Lily was embarrassed. “It’s just that we don’t know what else to do. I’m sorry, I know it’s an insane thing to even get you to come here, never mind ask you this.”
“No, don’t be sorry.” I felt bad for making her uncomfortable. “What do you need help with?”
“Hook has taken our people, too. He’s already delivered many of my tribe to the witch.”
“The witch? The witch who gave Hook his powers?”
“Yes. He’s bringing them to her in the faraway land, so they can be cursed into being her soldiers.”
“Something tells me this witch and Hook are up to more than what Peter has let on.”
“It’s been terrible. Never Land used to be such a wonderful place. But now…I don’t know if life will ever go back to normal.”
“I’m sorry. I would be happy to help you guys, in any way that I could, but there’s really nothing I can do. I don’t know what you guys think the world is like where I’m from, but it’s nothing like this. I have literally no experience with any of this.”
“I understand.” She sounded so sad. “I really do. If I were you, I’d be getting out of here as fast as I could, too. So I get it.”
There was a knock at the door.
“Tiger Lily?” Peter said. “Can I talk to Emily alone a minute?”
“Sure. If either of you need me, I’ll be right outside.”
Peter waited for her to leave before he spoke.
“I’m sorry for all this. I know you must be worried about Tim.”
“Yes, I am! How am I supposed to know if he’s safe, in that place with all those lunatic friends of yours?”
“He is safe, I promise. No one is going to be able to get to him there. Nobody’s looking for him, anyway. Nobody knows that he’s here.”
“No, but Captain Hook sure knows that I’m here, doesn’t he? I could tell by all the bullets whizzing by my head.”
“I’m sorry. I never thought—I didn’t expect for any of that to happen.”
“You didn’t? We snuck onto a train, literally in the middle of it being robbed. What did you think was gonna happen?”
“We were never supposed to have been seen. I assumed by now we’d be back at the Island of the Lost Boys, no worse for the wear.”
“And we were just gonna leave those poor people to get hurt?”
“That’s why Wes was there. Undercover. The second anything got too out of hand, he was gonna handle it. Or at least cause enough of a commotion to stop it.”
I tied the brown pants Tiger Lily had given me around my waist. “And you were just gonna stand there? Why weren’t you gonna do anything?”
Peter sighed. “I told you, I can’t beat Hook. Not anymore. The only reason we were there is so I could show you what we’re up against.”
“Well, you accomplished that, I can assure you.” I turned to the curtain. I could see Peter’s silhouette on the other side. He was looking at the floor.
“I just want you to know I didn’t want this to happen. I didn’t want you to go through all of that. I had planned on all of this going much differently.”
“I get it,” I said. “Thanks.” I didn’t really forgive him; I was just sick of him apologizing at this point. “When can we go back to the Island of the Lost Boys so I can get Tim and you can take us home?”
“Right after this,” Peter replied. “We just need to speak to the Chief and Chieftess first, and square things away with Wes for what he should do next.”
“Okay.” I stepped out from behind the curtain, tying my still-wet hair back into a ponytail. “Let’s get that over with then.”
Peter stared at me, smiling.
“What?” I looked down at my new outfit, which basically looked like a copy of Tiger Lily’s. “Are you going to make fun of my clothes now, too?”
Peter chuckled. “No, not at all. It’s just that you look…different. In our clothes. Clothes from Never Land, I mean. Rather than your clothes from New York.”
“Well, borrowing clothes from essentially a complete stranger will do that.”
“And with your hair pulled back like that.” Peter laughed through his nose. “You look different, that’s all.”
I walked past Peter and out the door. “Okay, Mr. Compliments. I’m not sure where you’re going with this, but I can assure you it’s not gonna help your case. I’m gonna go listen to the Chief and Chieftess, and then we’re getting out of here. Okay?”
“Sure, anything you say. You’re the one in charge, after all. Are you always this bossy?”
I thought it over. “I’m not sure. But right now, I feel like I have to be, considering I’ve been surrounded by almost exclusively complet
e lunatics for the past two hours.”
With Peter walking behind me, I stepped out of Tiger Lily’s house and into the village. Not far from us, there was a huge fire, and many of the members of Tiger Lily’s tribe were gathered there. Addressing them was Tiger Lily’s father and a stunning woman with black hair, who I assumed was Tiger Lily’s mother. Also near them, off to the side, were Tiger Lily and Wes.
I slowed down, letting Peter take the lead, and we walked to the front of the group.
“Ah, thank you, Peter,” the Chief said. “Thank you, Emily. Let us begin, though I know it’s not a topic any of us want to talk about.”
The Chieftess addressed the crowd.
“It has become apparent that we can no longer keep Hook at bay, as we have for so many years. Since his allegiance with the witch, he has become completely out of control. We cannot allow one more day to pass where he and his crew are able to commit their crimes across Never Land. To be blunt, we have already waited too long, hoping this problem would go away. It hasn’t, and it will not.”
“Has there been any word from your sister?” a man in the crowd asked.
The Chieftess shook her head. “No. There hasn’t been any word from any of our people that have been captured by Hook. And no word from Wendy, John, or Michael from the Island of the Lost Boys, either.”
I turned to Peter. He looked ahead, angry.
“How many of your tribe have been taken?” I whispered to Tiger Lily.
“Too many to count. When Hook returned, with his new powers and madder than ever, my people took it upon themselves to stop his attacks on the islands of Never Land. But it has cost us dearly.”
“Which is why it is now clear,” the Chieftess said, “that we must make our final stand. We do not even know if our people are still on Never Land, and that is unacceptable. We must find them, and bring them back to us. However, it is just as clear that Hook cannot be defeated. Not by anyone here. Not even by Peter. Hook’s newfound magic has made him seemingly immortal.”
Peter looked down and took a deep breath.
“I was hoping I’d be able to help with that,” Wes said, “since the magic he’s using is from my land. But the spells used to enchant him are unlike any I have ever seen. All of my attempts to find a spell that would undo his magic have failed. Not a single wizard or witch from my land has any answers or counter-spells that can combat his enchantments.”
“Which is why defeating Hook is now out of the question,” the Chieftess said. “We can no longer wait, hoping that the next time we face him, one of us will be able to humiliate him, and beat him into hiding. The old methods of defeating Hook no longer work. Not with this new, mechanical, twisted version of himself. He can longer be demoralized, or attacked until he temporarily admits defeat. He has changed, and we must change how we approach him.”
“Our only hope now is to drive him out of Never Land,” the Chief said. “Physically remove him, bring him to another place, and ensure he never comes back. Attempting to fight him off or get him to retreat to his island will not accomplish anything except more people being captured by him and his men.”
“Exile is the only solution,” the Chieftess said. “Of course, that is easier said than done. Exiling a mad man who possesses unknown and uncontrollable powers is not exactly a solution any of us know how to accomplish.”
“That is our number one priority now,” the Chief said, “finding a way to remove Hook from Never Land. Methods have been suggested that include poisoning him somehow, and then quickly transporting him to another one of the worlds—a world he can’t return from. But all that would accomplish is spreading his insanity to another place where he could attack others. The only world that would be acceptable is one that is barren, and uninhabited. That is the only place it would be acceptable for us to bring Hook—an uninhabited world.”
“We must find a way to exile Hook from Never Land,” the Chieftess said. “And quickly.”
The Chief and Chieftess waited for someone to speak, but everybody was silent. At first, I thought they were silent because they were trying to think of a solution, but then I realized they were simply exhausted. Like they had given up. They had all resigned themselves to the fact that there was no ridding themselves of Hook.
I started thinking, racking my brain for any idea I could offer. Honestly, I was doing this for completely selfish reasons. The faster this get-together was over, the faster I could get back to Tim. These weird people—for some weird reason—wanted my help to get rid of Hook, so I would give it to them. If for no other reason than maybe they’d leave me alone and let me leave this place.
I thought back, to my encounter with Hook. His appearance was so disturbing, with half of his face and more than half of his body made from that twisted metal. I especially couldn’t stop thinking about the scar down the center of his face, where the skin was still raw and blistered. Then I thought about what Peter had told me—how Hook and his men used to sail the seas and explore Never Land, all while robbing other ships. But now they couldn’t, because of the way the salt water and ocean air affected Hook’s mechanisms. It had been one of the most striking things I had noticed about Hook—he had actually appeared disappointed, almost embarrassed, that he was robbing that train full of tiny people who couldn’t fight back.
“What if you somehow got him out to sea?” I offered, feeling strange to be suggesting an idea. “Peter, you told me he couldn’t sail the ocean any longer, correct? Because of his mechanical parts?”
Peter stood up straight, considering my idea.
“That’s right. He hasn’t sailed or even been near the ocean since his rescue from the croc. Since Smee and the witch gave him his new body.”
“Because he can’t, or he would basically die?”
“Pretty much,” Wes said. “Or at least stiffen up and freeze like a statue, because of his mechanical half shutting down.”
“He didn’t seem all that thrilled with playing the part of a train robber,” I said. “I don’t know Hook all that well, obviously, but he looked like someone living a lie. He’s a pirate, right? That’s what he used to be?”
“That’s all he ever cared about,” the Chieftess said. “For years, he was a pirate, adventuring across the high seas. That was his entire identity. When he could no longer sail and go near the ocean, that’s exactly when he finally lost control.”
“Well, give that back to him, then,” I said. They were eating this plan up. Now was the time to really push it, so we could get back to the Island of the Lost Boys. “Give him back his identity. Get him out to sea. It’ll most likely kill him, or at least permanently disable him, and he’ll no longer be a threat. He’ll be so tempted by his old life, he won’t be able to resist.”
A silence.
“What do you think, Peter?” the Chief said.
Peter looked into the distance, smiling. “I think it’s the best bloody plan anyone has come up with in months. And it just might bloody work.”
“Is he that obsessed with pirating?” Wes asked. “That obsessed with sailing? That he would willingly head back to the sea, knowing it will kill him?”
“It’s possible,” Peter said. “Maybe not likely, but possible. Even before he completely lost his mind, Hook was irrational. Quick to act, without thinking. If we make it tempting enough, and make him remember how much he misses his old life, he might take the opportunity.” He laughed. “Dammit, Emily, you might have just figured this out. The way to get rid of Hook is to play right into his insanity—give him exactly what he wants. His greed, and his selfishness, will be what does him in.”
“He’ll insist on getting what he wants,” Wes said. “Even if it means catastrophic harm to himself.”
“Exactly.” Peter clapped his hands together. “See? I knew bringing Emily here was what we needed. She’s the one to rescue us, like I always knew she would be.” He looked to me and put his hand on my shoulder. “I told you coming here was a good idea.”
I didn
’t have the heart to tell Peter I still considered it the stupidest thing I had ever done.
“Let’s not start celebrating,” the Chief said. “The general idea is good, but the chances of it succeeding are still slim. Never mind thinking he’ll be selfish enough to head back to sea—to get to that point, we would still have to face him, arrange this somehow, and possibly enter his territory. That alone would be putting all of our people in danger.”
“We’ll worry about that when the time comes,” the Chieftess said. “Because Peter’s right: this is the best plan we’ve had yet. And we are running out of time. We will likely have to face Hook again, yes, but that is still far off. Before we concern ourselves with that, we need to first figure out exactly how we would get him back to sea, if we had the opportunity. How could we bait him out there?”
I heard Tiger Lily laugh.
“It’s so obvious,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about it since Emily brought up the idea. What’s the one thing—literally the one thing in the world—that Hook likes more than himself?”
The group thought it over.
“His ship,” Peter replied.
“That’s right,” Tiger Lily said. “The Jolly Roger. For all of Hook’s existence—as long as I’ve known, anyway—he has only cared about two things: himself, and that ship. He took care of that ship like it was a living being. Peter, when you and Wendy carved your names into its hull, he nearly killed everyone on the ship, just because they were there when it happened. He won’t risk his life and head to sea for just any ship. Even he’s not that insane. It would have to be the Jolly Roger—the only thing he loves more than himself.”
“He hasn’t seen it since he returned,” the Chief said. “At the very least, just the sight of it might distract him enough so that one of us could try another tactic to take him out.”
“All right,” I said. “Great. Glad I could help. So where is this ship? Seems like Hook doesn’t have it anymore. Where is it?”
“It’s not far from here,” Peter said. “After my battle with Hook—the one where I thought he was finally gone for good—I gave it to the fairies, to thank them for helping us. They have control of it now. It’s at the Island of the Fairies.”
“Some of them actually live in it now,” Tiger Lily explained.
“Great,” I said. “So let’s go ask them if we can borrow it. Would it be that easy?”
“We’d have to travel to the Island of the Fairies,” the Chief said.
“Okay,” I replied.
“Would you be okay with that?”
“Sure,” I shrugged. I looked to Peter, since I knew nothing about fairies, but he wasn’t looking at me. “I’d be happy to go with you. Really, at this point, I just need to get back to my brother. Can we go to the Island of the Lost Boys after we talk to the fairies?”
“Of course,” the Chieftess said. “After we—hopefully—convince them to give us the ship, we’ll make sure you’re safely returned to your brother. Thank you for your help and willingness to do this, Emily. I’m very impressed with your bravery.”
“Especially the fact that you’re willing to go to the Island of the Fairies,” Tiger Lily added.
“Sure,” I said. “What, are they dangerous or something?”
“Well,” the Chief said with a laugh. “Maybe, since Peter will be with you.”
I looked to Peter. He shrugged.
“We don’t exactly have the best relationship,” he said. “The fairies don’t care for me much.”
“Why am I surprised,” I said. “I get the feeling you must get that a lot.”
Peter chuckled.
“All right, then, it’s settled,” the Chieftess said. “We’ll head to the Island of the Fairies to ask them to give us the Jolly Roger. I believe it’ll be best if only a few of us go. We don’t want to make them nervous or suspicious by having too many people head there unannounced.”
“Just the four of us should go,” Tiger Lily said. “Peter, Wes, Emily, and myself. They’re most familiar with us, anyway. They’ll be more likely to hear us out. And then we can bring Emily back to the Lost Boys right after.”
“Good thinking,” the Chief said. “We don’t want to waste much time. Should you head there at sunrise?”
“I say we go now,” Wes said. “No sense in waiting. The more time we lose, the more time Hook will have to attempt another attack, or something even worse.”
“I agree,” I replied. “Let’s go now. I’m too nervous to sleep, anyway.”
The Chief laughed. “All right. Gather your things and travel there on Wes’ flying machine. Peter, will you be able to captain the Jolly Roger back to your island?”
“Sure,” Peter said. “It won’t be the first time. I brought the ship there, I can bring it back.”
“Let’s get going,” Tiger Lily said. “I’m ready. But one more thing. Peter?”
“Yeah?”
“Let me do all the talking, okay?”
“You got it. I might even just stay in the flying machine.”
“Good idea,” Wes said. “We’ll probably be safer that way. I was there the last time the fairies saw you. It wasn’t pretty. I didn’t know things that small could be so vicious.”
“They’re usually very playful and gentle,” Tiger Lily said. “It’s only Peter that makes them angry.”
I looked to Peter. “You ever think maybe you need to approach people a little differently?”
Peter smirked. “Hey, I am who I am. I can’t change that.”
“No, but it’d be so nice if you could,” Tiger Lily sighed.